Such a ceiling pivot arm was disclosed by British Patent specification 1,558,426 corresponding to DE-OS 26 10 140. In the known ceiling pivot arm, one or more outriggers are held by a mount in the ceiling of a room, for example an operating room, with ability to rotate. The known pivot bearings have to permit easy-running rotating motion, on the one hand, and on the other hand they have to be designed so that considerable loads, typically up to 100 kg, can be held by more or less extended overhanging articulated arms. The two conflicting requirements of easy running of the pivot bearing on the one hand and precision power transmission exposed to the enormous lever forces on the other, with no possibility of tilting from the vertical from the weight, depending on the excursion of the pivot arm, make a costly design necessary for the pivot bearing that is costly in assembly and associated with some inadequacies with regard to operating reliability.